Thousands of people were feared dead after a powerful earthquake rocked western India yesterday, toppling buildings and burying hundreds of residents.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) said that more than 2,250 people had died, including 1,300 in the small town of Bhuj, near the epicentre of the earthquake, the worst to hit India in 50 years. But Mr Haren Pandya, the home minister of the state of Gujarat, said he believed the eventual death toll would be much higher.
The quake, which was also felt in Pakistan and Nepal, cast a tragic shadow over India's annual Republic Day celebrations and was described as a "calamity of national magnitude" by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Indian officials measured the quake's magnitude at 6.9 on the Richter scale, but foreign seismological bureaux put it at up to 7.9.
In Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Gujarat, at least 400 people died as the quake toppled 80 buildings. A state government minister said that there were at least 30 people still alive under the debris.
Last night, the President, Mrs McAleese, sent condolences on behalf of the people of Ireland to Mr Shri K.R. Narayanan, the President of India.
The Pakistan military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, putting aside differences with India over Kashmir, wrote to the Indian Prime Minister expressing sorrow for the deaths.
In Washington, President Bush offered assistance and sent condolences to the people of western India and those affected in Pakistan.
